Support Trump or Else! #100DaysOfHorror

EYE guess it depends on what the definition of allegedly IS: 

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The leader of an alt-right group attending California State University, Stanislaus, was caught on video Saturday punching a woman in the face at a protest in Berkeley.
Nathan Damigo was seen in a YouTube video posted by WeAreChange.org on Saturday striking a woman, who immediately fell to the ground. The shot of Damigo, in a blue buttoned-down shirt with rolled up sleeves, was 31 seconds into a more than four-minute video taken from the streets of downtown Berkeley.

You have been warned

The clock is being turned back. Vulnerable populations are under relentless attack by this administration. This is a war, and that is not hyperbole or exaggeration. While folks are hoping that some Russia-related revelation will emerge from the darkness to bring this administration to a calamitous conclusion, the administration is busy rebuilding and reinforcing the architecture of oppression in plain sight.

Meanwhile, Trump claims protestors were allegedly paid to march in rallies all over the country demanding to see his tax returns.

Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017

Terror Threat Level Bright Orange

#WeAreNotSafe

Liberals don’t realize the serious danger of the alt-right https://t.co/KZd3dscst4 pic.twitter.com/bw3XqvUjpP

— Salon (@Salon) March 10, 2017

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray...

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty former Governor Don Siegelman is free at last! #SweetHomeAlabama

Former Alabama Governor and political prisoner Don Siegelman was finally released from prison today after serving time for being too liberal for Alabama (code for being fair to black folks), EYE mean, who has been serving a 78-month sentence for a 2006 bribery conviction.

Yep, there is no absence of malice in Bama and look for more political prisoners and more democrats/liberals/ to be destroyed under our new United States Attorney General who also hails from the Heart of Dixie.  

Welcome home to the Kakistocracy Governor.  Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

Be a Sucker. Vote Republican.

There are two kinds of republicans.  

H/T jobsanger, who reminds us there are two kinds of republicans, millionaires and Suckers. If millionaires convince you to vote against your self interest you are a Sucker. The millioniares are betting against America .  Suckers always fall for the Okey Doke .  Suckers can be counted on to hate President Obama more than they love themselves.

RedEye

Clinton/Sanders or Sanders/Clinton, it's a win win for the American people #BlackHistoryMonth2016

"What they are saying is, let's destroy the world. Is that worth voting against?"

In 1931, two white women stepped off from a box car in Paint Rock, Alabama to make a shocking accusation: they had been raped by nine black teenagers on the train. So began one of the most significant legal fights of the twentieth century.The trial of the nine falsely accused teens would draw North and South into their sharpest conflict since the Civil War, yield two momentous Supreme Court decisions and give birth to the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to its historical significance, the Scottsboro story is a riveting drama about the struggles of nine innocent young men for their lives and a cautionary tale about using human beings as fodder for political causes.

RedEye

EYE #FeltTheBurn and it was HOT! HOT! HOT!

The parallels between the white moderates whom Dr. Martin Luther King criticized in 1963 and certain white progressives whom many Black activists are criticizing in 2015 couldn't be clearer.

Let me see if EYE have this right (pun intended), EYE am supposed to support a candidate whose fans calls #BlackLivesMatter Activist everything but a child of God because he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., and because these same supporters say he is the best candidate to address our issues?  Nah.  That's not going to work for me.

When black women interrupt your candidate, don't call them "thugs." And when protesters hijack your hero's microphone to have their story heard, it doesn't mean they're paid provocateurs in some elaborate plot involving George Soros and Hillary Clinton. You know who else propagates wild conspiracy theories about George Soros funding left-wing protesters? Glenn Beck and Allen West. So congratulations, white progressives – your fanaticism for Bernie has turned you into the thing you hate. - 

EYE would like to thank the Black Lives Matter Activist for speaking truth to power, and in the process exposing the large white crowds attending Bernie Sanders events for who, and what, they really are. 

Bernie's supporters need to realize that Bernie Sanders is not the leader of this political revolution. We all are. Let the revolution unfold – Bernie is welcome to join if he's ready. -

What you accuse others of doing is what you are doing yourself. The accusation/allegations the Black Lives Matters Movement is a George Soros/Hilary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Outside Agitator front group, could be a cover for republicans masquerading as progressive/liberals/Bernie Supporters. 

Eye Am Just Saying...

Black Lives Matter—which has challenged and called out respectability politics and the ties that Black politicians have to a structurally racist political system—has engaged in a backlash against Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and the civil rights establishment. This comes as young Black men were being dismissed by elders such as Bill Cosby and the old guard civil rights groups, often lectured to, and told to pull their pants up rather than provided with any guidance or assistance. As a result, Alicia Garza, a co-founder of #BlackLivesMatter, said, “Ferguson marked the first time in my lifetime‚ in which the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were begged to leave the scene of a civil rights crime.”

It's a new day and there is a new way. Bernie Sanders has ripped his drawers with me, thanks to his supporters. 

"there can be no unity when you demonstrate that you care more about order than justice."

Know Justice.  Know Peace. 

Update ~ EYE want my Daggum Democratic Party Back! Can EYE Rant?

H/T ca democrat via Daily Kos

One Pissed Off Liberal writes:

I'm a Tom Joad democrat, a prison reform democrat, an anti-poverty democrat and a pro-justice democrat - so the party left me a long time ago...and they never looked back as they went chasing after the fat checkbook crowd. The few indisputably good things the party has done, such as the war on poverty and support for the civil rights movement, recede into the distant past as a brave new world emerges in which we are left to wonder just what IS the difference between neocons and neolibs, and whether democrats bombing the world in an unending war orgy is any better than repubs doing the exact same thing.

Today's democrats are yesterday's republicans.

 Democrats (not all of them of course, but enough of them) enabled the Bush administration in some of the worst crimes against humanity in modern history: the illegal invasion of Iraq, the shameful atrocities at Abu Ghraib, Bagram, Guantanamo and elsewhere, kidnappings, torture, murders, assassinations, double-taps such as that shown in the Chelsea Manning video and on and on.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

My judgment is especially harsh for the Democratic Party because the whole world looked to them for justice and were denied. Justice is what we owed the world. JUSTICE!
The prospect of a Republican freak out is no excuse for Democrats not pursuing justice. We're always crowing about what a great nation we are – but we can't even manage to bring our own worst and most public in-your-face criminals to justice.

EYE said it once, and EYE say it again.  The Democratic party has been infiltrated by reactionary/New Dems/Blue Dogs/ Centrist/Conservadems/Moderates, and hell knows who/what else to promote neo liberal (aka conservative) ideas.

In addition to conservative infiltrators the democratic party has so called "moderates, centrist, center" who try and walk a thin line down the middle of the party. We don't know if they are pro choice or anti choice. We don't know if they are pro civil rights or anti civil rights. We don't know what the heck they stand for. They are in the middle whatever the heck that means. My daddy says the only thing down the middle of the road is a yellow line. Moderates are afraid to take a position one way or another because they don't know what side of the road they are on.

The definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again,  hoping for a different result.

We’re “absolutely unified on three essential messages going forward: It’s middle class, middle class, middle class,” said Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who had just surveyed 90 Democratic members about what they want to see in 2016. “Everybody agreed that it has to be about the middle.”

Who the heck is "Everybody" Rep. Steve Isreal, Sir?  Blue Dogs and New Dems who vote with the republicans and have no connection to the traditional democratic base?  The traditional democratic base they use to get elected, then throw under the bus?

 Davis panders to the right, who are wrong about everything, to the detriment of the, as he calls them,  democratic base(women,minorities,labor,public school teachers,civil rights leaders,African American political organizations). You know, the traditional democratic base that marched, bleed and died to change Alabama. The traditional democratic base that made it possible for him to be the sitting Congressman from the 7th district (which includes the black belt) of Alabama.

Enough.  It's time for real Democrats to stand their ground, and for those who don't support the Democratic platform 100% to go.  Those who believe a half an A$$ is better than no A$$ need to find another party.  Just because someone say's they are a democrat , doesn't mean they are democrat.

Real democrats are pro equal, civil, and human rights.  Real democrats support a woman's right to choose to have a safe legal abortion.  Real democrats support public education, public school teachers, and labor.  Real democrats support equal rights for LBGT citizens.  Real democrats are proud, unashamed, Birkenstock wearing, Hybrid car driving, tree hugging, anti war, anti poverty, card carrying, flag waving,  LIBERALS.

What do our opponents mean when they apply to us the label "Liberal?" If by "Liberal" they mean, as they want people to believe, someone who is soft in his policies abroad, who is against local government, and who is unconcerned with the taxpayer's dollar, then the record of this party and its members demonstrate that we are not that kind of "Liberal." But if by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people -- their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties -- someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."

If you can't support all of the above, you are with them, and against us.

  Independents are really republicans who are ashamed to call themselves republicans.

I'm sick and tired of cowardly Dems.

RedEye Rant Over and Out.  For now.

Please, Casey WARdynski, "Let My People Go"

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski answers questions from the press following Thursday night's Huntsville school board meeting. (The Huntsville Times/Michael Mercier)

Superintendent Dr. Casey Wardynski is doing the job he was hired to do.

Casey you have to break the mold and prove you're not afraid of minorities, democrats, liberals, aclu (sic) types and the entire entitlement crowd! Do that, and you'll be doing the job you were hired to do! Oh yeah, not to mention striking down all racial transfers. And that includes allowing not allowing whites to racially transfer either. If you don't like where your child goes to school, move to where they can be zoned into a school of your preference, that's what I had to do!

In the Sunday, January 29,2012 edition of The Huntsville Times, school board member David Blair is quoted as saying the superintendent is doing what he was hired to to.  That may be true, however the current members of the Board of Education aren't doing what WE THE VOTERS hired YOU to do.  But I digress.

Mission Accomplished?

 The districts goal?

Getting Huntsville City Schools out from under a desegregation order from 40 years ago and achieving unity.

And how does the Mighty Casey go about achieving such unity?  By closing one failing school and combining it with another so called failing school, building a new school that no one asked for, violating the rules to change the name against the wishes of the community, and,  to add insult to injury,  locate the new school .06 miles from an active rock quarry, in spite of air quality concerns.

Now this doesn't sound like achieving unity to me, as the late great James Brown said, it sounds more like The Big Pay Back to me.

Once segregated by law, school systems across the country are coming out from under federal scrutiny at an increasingly faster rate, retiring desegregation court orders from the civil rights era. 
But once free of such orders, those same systems are likely to see rising segregation levels among white and black students.

And that's especially true in elementary grades and in Southern states, according to a comprehensive study published in the current issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.

He who controls the message controls the outcome.

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer humming Go Down Moses

A real liberal view: Why real liberals support the Constitution of the United States of America, all of it.

Fellow Blogger PoliticsAlabama, who has posting privileges (which I don't)  at Left in Alabama, posted a diary entitled A liberal view:  Why liberals should support the second amendment (as if we don't), linking to a Daily Kos diary entitled, Why Liberals should love the second amendment (as if we don't).

Let me clear up the *ahem* misconception.

Just because we self-proclaimed liberals want sensible gun control legislation to prevent the gun violence that demeans human life and tears communities apart doesn't mean we don't support the second amendment.

Just because we self-proclaimed liberals don't believe the solution to gun violence is more guns doesn't mean we don't support the second amendment.

Here are some words from a real liberal (not to be confused with a self-proclaimed liberal) about the constitution and gun rights.

Saturday night just ain't that special
Yeah, I got the constitution on the run
'Cause even though we've got the right
To defend our home, to defend our life
Got to understand to get it in hand about the guns

 It's not about the 2nd amendment.  It's about saving lives.  I Am Because You Are:  The Sandy Hook Promise

“This is a Promise we make to our precious children. Because each child, every human life is filled with promise, and though we continue to be filled with unbearable pain we choose love, belief, and hope instead of anger.”

Don't listen to republicans

Why does anyone listen to republicans? I mean, really? They have ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, creditability. History proves they are on the wrong side of every issue. So please tell me why they are allowed to use the public airways to mislead the American people and distort what we decide while liberal/progressive voices are silenced? Why aren't we hearing about the Progressive Caucus Budget to the same degree we're hearing about Paul Ryan's budget proposal?

The 75-member House Progressive Caucus has put out its own budget to counter Paul Ryan's Medicare-gutting GOP plan.

This is more than a fantasy document. It's sound policy. The conservative Economist magazine has called the budget "courageous." As a conversation-starter, it shows that the path out of our debt and deficit quagmire is not as steep as most imagine, and that getting America's fiscal house in order isn't incompatible with making critical investments in jobs and infrastructure.

The budget has more of what Americans say they want — new taxes on the rich and cuts to defense — than either the GOP's or the president's budget. And it has none of what Americans say they hate: changes to the social compact that's guided America from the days of the New Deal and the Great Society.

What's that you say? The Americans want new taxes on the rich and cuts to defense? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you! That explains why we aren't hearing about it in the media. *Snark*

Let Congress Test Out Paul Ryan's Medicare Plan on Themselves and Their Families: That Would Kill It Right Quick

If the politicians in DC are so serious about deficit reduction, then why don't they start by cutting their own pay, health care benefits and pensions?

Doesn't budget control begin at home?

And if Paul Ryan's Medicare plan is so terrific, why don't Ryan and other Congressional supporters of his budget immediately pass a bill that will replace their health care benefits with the Ryan plan?

In fact, why not run a test program with the Koch brothers, members of their Americans for Prosperity and elderly Tea Party supporters? All of them should volunteer to immediately go on the Ryan Medicare, drastically limited "voucher program" - which would leave a high percentage of seniors unable to afford medical insurance - as sort of a test model of Ryan's plans for privatizing and shrinking Medicare.

Then we can see the actual results of a plan that would raise health care costs by adding the profits of corporations and administrative costs to Medicare, while drastically reducing benefits due to the small amount of money allocated to vouchers for each senior - and the for-profit insurance industry profit motivation to deny as much care as possible.

Why aren't Senator Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kuchinich invited to appear on mainstream media talk shows? I'll tell you why, it's because they might tell the TRUTH.

Monday Talking Points

There is nothing wrong with Teachers having tenure, that's why republicans want to mess it up too.

One of the more closely watched bills at this stage of the 2010 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature has been SB310, a Republican proposal to “reform” the teacher* tenure law in Alabama. The list of the bill’s sponsors reads like a Who’s Who of the hard-core GOP political apparatus: Senators Pittman, Dial, Waggoner, Marsh, Taylor, Beason, Williams, Blackwell and Whatley. The bill’s main sponsor, Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County, has been quoted as saying the object of his bill is “making it easier for school boards to get rid of the bad ones [teachers].”

You are either with the racist Tea Party or you're against the racist Tea Party.

Remember, the Tea Party is based on serious policy disagreements with Obama and not just bigoted people freaking out over our first black president. And when they send out emails like this comparing Obama to a monkey, it is totally not racist of them at all. I know this is true because I saw it on Fox News and why would they lie?

If the tea party is about taxation without representation Shouldn’t this be a fight tea party people would want to get involved in?

While it may not seem important to some, there is a crisis brewing in the nation’s capital:

What might be required to enact change, Raskin said, is a “mass movement of protest to test the conscience of the nation. It’s clear that President Obama does not intend to be the personal leader of a liberation struggle. He’s dealing with multiple crises. This is not a crisis until the people of Washington make it one.”

D.C. residents are pissed, and rightly so. They’ve always been the step-children in state rights discussions. They’ve always been tapped for cash and concessions, but never allowed the kind of representation that goes along with that.

Psst President Obama! D.C. residents are tried of being treated like the step children at the family reunion.

Mark Plotkin, a WTOP political commentator who has made District statehood something of an obsession, said he sees little to distinguish Obama from his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. Bush angered voting rights advocates by refusing to place the D.C. “Taxation Without Representation” license plate on the presidential limousine. Obama also has not added the plate to his limousine.

“The greatest assault is indifference, and he has the hubris to take us for granted,” Plotkin said of Obama. “He went to Cairo to talk about democracy. He won’t go to Brentwood or Deanwood. He has not made one utterance about D.C. to D.C. in D.C.”

Those republicans know how to fight crime, don't they?

you can be on the lookout for a convicted sex offender--and rest assured that law enforcement will be nowhere in sight.

Is the Budget Deal real or is it Memorex?

The latest report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals that the much vaunted budget compromise, being sold as a massive cut, is actually nothing of the sort, and taking the ongoing wars into consideration will actually see 2011 spending increase somewhat over the previous plan

The data shows “non-emergency appropriations” falling nearly $38 billion on paper, but that this would translate into only $352 million in actually spending cuts compared to the previous estimates.

Hey Left in Alabama did you learn anything from this story, or are you going to continue to suppress liberal voices?

If your view of politics is filtered by a lens marked "Progressive" or "Liberal", there's a pretty good chance that you've been gnashing your teeth and pulling your hair in frustration over the "give away the store, then negotiate" approach professional Democrats have used when facing the challenges from the Tea Party last year, and all that's come after.
Over and over and over people like me have written stories wondering why Democrats, starting with this President, don't get out in a very public way and slam Republican policies, over and over and over-especially when most Americans hate the things Republicans seem to love to support.

Talk on. Talk loud. Talk often.

The Base has left the building

President Obama's base is deserting him faster than rats leaving the Titanic. I want to blame the Presidents' staff/advisers, but in all honesty I can't because after all, he's the one who hired them.

From a press secretary who sneeringly referred to us as The Professional Left, to a Chief of Staff who called us F*cking Retards. From an Education Secretary who is against public schools and public school teachers, to advisers who made him into a their version of what the first African American President should be. A token, with no real power. Someone to make them feel good, so they could pretend we are a post racial America. Someone to lecture black folks about personal responsibility.

I'm going to assume President Obama honestly thought he would allowed to govern when he took the oath of office on that January day in 2009. I also assume he thought republicans would work with him. Little did he know Rush Limbaugh and Company were already planning his failure. Mission Accomplished. The first African American President is a failure, so we don't have to worry about this little social experiment again. I fear after President Obama, there will never be another African American President.

White people are truly scared of Obama. On one hand they are scared he might enact policies that might improve conditions for African American and be the black President for black people only. and on the other hand, they are scared he's going to exact some kind of revenge for the way blacks have been treated by the white power structure.

There is a divide within the black community regarding President Obama. Recent polling indicate his approval has dropped from 95% to 85%. During the campaign blacks were discouraged from asking about issues that affect their community.

Liberal/Progressive whites who supported the President are through too.

Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the Democratic Party left him before he left the party. Like many progressive supporters of Barack Obama, I'm beginning to have the same feeling about this president.

Consider what we've seen since the shellacking Democrats took in the fall elections.

I thought President Obama was smart and was going to surround himself with smart people. I didn't know he would be so busy trying to keep his JOB he would forget to do his job.

It's not wise to throw your base under the bus. As the young people say, you better recognize.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. President Obama needs to get control of the message. He who controls the message controls the outcome.

Wednesday Must Reads

If you never read another thing I post, please take time to read the following:

Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches#1228 H/T Joseph O. Patton at Capital City Free Press

When we dig a hole for someone else, we may as well dig two for we will surely fall in the first one we dug. I heard these words from my mama and other wise old folks.

A cry out for closure H/T GrannyStandingforTruth

As if we didn't know...Teabaggers paid to troll liberals online. H/T MinistryofTruth

If this be Treason H/T Capt.Fogg

The Republicans like to use the word Tyrant a lot. Perhaps it's the same sort of tendency you find in liars and cheats and thieves of other types who use those words to describe those who threaten to expose them. Perhaps not, but I've noticed of late that there have been a lot of calls for summary and extra-legal executions coming from Right wing writers and hate shouters like good ol' love thy neighbor Mike Huckabee or Foxboy Tucker Carlson who "personally" would like to have had Michael Vick put up against a wall and shot even though dear justice loving Tucker professes to be -- you guessed it -- a Christian. Pardon me, but I'm confused.

Blast from the past..I'm still weeping for the residents of Alabama's 7th district.

President Obama is NOT moving to the Center

Despite the latest right wing Talking TeeVee Pundit Head chatter, President Obama has not abandoned his "base" and decided to govern from the center. That's just the C-Y-A spin they are trying to put on the shellacking President Obama (D), Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D) laid on them. They never saw it coming. *snicker* I repeat...Liberals don't hate President Obama.

Do Liberals hate the Obama Compromise, where the super rich get a tax cut for two years, unemployment is extended for one year and the 99's get nothing? Hell yes we do! As well we should.

The bill, H.R.4853, is estimated to cost $858 billion, and is entirely financed by increasing the federal deficit. In addition to the income tax extension and the unemployment insurance, the bill includes a one-year reduction in social security taxes, a two-year reduction of the estate tax (35% with the first $5 million fully exempt), a smattering of tax cuts designed to help middle-class families, and about $55 billion in pork for special interests.

Serioulsy, what's so wrong with being "far left"? Think about it,, what has the "far left" ever been wrong about? Were we wrong about the Iraq war? When has the "far left" ever been on the wrong side of social issues? Was the far left wrong about the Civil Rights Act? President Obama is being urged by some to govern from the center. The center of what? My daddy says the only thing down the center of the road is a yellow line. The President can't govern from center

Black Agenda Report editor and columnist Jared A. Bell says it's the Professional Left versus the Left of Us.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was partially right when earlier this year he dismissed the “professional left.” There is indeed a professional left, those whose entire careers and claims to fame are based on permanent liberal challenges to power and who arrogantly dismiss as immature, and worse dangerous, those who would push leftward beyond those limits. “Don’t go too far,” they tell us, “vote for us or THEY will get elected and then we’re in real trouble!” But that’s because liberals aren’t in real trouble. They don’t really believe that. If they did really believe that corporations were leading the planet to doom or that the fascists they are protecting us from are just outside the gates would they really only respond by a few rallies and a vote for a Democrat? Then maybe they are as “f&*king stupid” as Rahm Emanuel said they are.

Way, way under the mainstream media radar the biggest prison strike since Attica went unnoticed in the MSM in favor of a "missing popular dancer in Las Vegas".

In the spirit of Attica, nearly 40 years later, prisoners at six prisons in Georgia organized a non-violent labor strike to demand better conditions for themselves. Specifically the inmates demanded a living wage for their work, educational opportunities, decent health care, an end to cruel and unusual punishment, decent living conditions, nutritional meals, opportunities for self-improvement (rehabilitation), access to their families and just parole decisions.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the strike, in which inmates shared information via text messaging on phones bought from prison guards, is that the strike went virtually unnoticed by mainstream American media. That so many chose to ignore what has been called the largest strike of its nature in American history, speak volumes to how Americans continue to think of the American Prison System or what scholars and activists have more commonly referred to as the "Prison Industrial Complex." The inmates themselves have another word for their reality: "Slavery."

So, if prison inmate can rise up in protest of their conditions what's wrong with us so called free folks? IMHO, until President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder make good on their promise to restore integrity to the Justice Department,there will be no peace on this earth.

The Department’s public integrity section is under new leadership—the most highly qualified it has seen in recent decades. It has seized the right moment for an internal reassessment of the approach to prosecuting public corruption. That should entail recognizing that dedication to fair process must take a center seat even if some scoundrels get off the hook as a result. This reassessment must include some introspection about mistakes and abuses of the past as well, because the most serious misjudgments in the public integrity arena relate to active cases in which the Justice Department is defending utterly indefensible positions. In the end, the Justice Department will also have to learn to operate in the harsh sunlight of public attention, disclosing its mistakes and striving to correct them. This is the essential path back to public trust after years spent straying in the wilderness.

As long as elected officials pander to what Ministry of Truth describes as the perfect gop voter there will be no peace on this earth, they are not in the center, they are far right, and us far lefty's are nothing like them.

You can basically break Republican voters into 4 subgroups, and they are Cruel, Hateful, Wildly Misinformed, and Constantly Scared S#@tless. The perfect storm of Republican ideology on the MooseMeter of "WTF are they talking about" is all 4 at once.

The four steps of creating the perfect GOP voter:

1. Find some way to wildly misinform people
2. Play up to their hate (Try calling your opponents Hitler)
3. Play to their cruelty in persecuting the object of their hatred
4. Do your best to scare the living s&*t out of your captive, misinformed viewers about the IMMINENT DANGER of terrorist attacks, socialists, communists, race based cruelty, anti immigrant furor or the Next Big Government Takeover that is going to destroy America.

Our President is not walking the center line down the center of the road just because the gop put a horse head in his bed. They got their tax cut for the rich, at the expense of the country, but that's OK, because it exposes the gop for what it really stands for, Greed Over People. President Obama takes the far left position on DADT, the Dream Act, Equal pay for equal work and access to health care reform. His job approval rating among us far left liberals is just fine.

A friend of mine said they wanted President Obama to act more like George W. Bush and just bull doze his agenda through. I said I wanted President Obama to act more like John Shaft (Richard Roundtree or Samuel L. Jackson). But in the end I believe he acts more like Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, what we've gote here is a failure to communicate directly to the American people with out the mainstream media distorting what we decide with all spin all the time, unfair and unbalanced, pandering to the typical gop voter.

President is NOT moving to the Center. There is NO Center.

Redeye's Reading List

The weather outside is frightful so let's take a blog stroll together. Warning, this blog stroll is heavy on racial issues *gasp*, so come along if you dare.

This C-Span caller from Sweet Home Alabama, should put an end to the specualtion the gop is making inroads with minorities and that it doesn't bode well for democrats. *snicker*

To be fair, two callers on a talk show does not make the republican party racist. I mean these guys sounded as old as Methuselah, so I can understand their disdain for not only hope and change. But also the addition of the bumbling-incompetent-bald headed-wide nosed having RNC Chairman, that is Michael Steele. Yep, those guys were the exception to the rule because we all know that the republican party isn't racist. I mean if they were, they would have never elected Steele, right?

The chase contiues, look out for the traps. *sigh*

Things seem to intensify during the holiday season. People's emotions tend to get the better of them, and their true feelings always comes out. It's why my man racism works in overdrive around this time. But I have no problem with chasing his ass around the room and shining a light on him when he stops.

Out of sight out of mind. Words of Love for Georgia Prison Strikers;

Every single day, prisoners face the same deplorable and unnecessarily punitive conditions that you have courageously decided to stand up against. For too long, this nation has chosen silence in the face of the gross injustices that our brothers and sisters in prison are subjected to. Your fight against these injustices is a necessary and righteous struggle that must be carried out to victory.

Sheltered White Men

A Sheltered White Man is a white man whose experience rarely goes beyond that of well-to-do White Americans. The power of his class, race, sex and country shelters him from much of the bad done in the world.

True, most people’s experiences are limited by class, race, sex and country. And most people understandably avoid experiencing the bad in the world as much as they can.

What makes Sheltered White Men different is their power:

Speaking of sheltered, priviledged, powerful white men, Gary Palmer says extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich will make Christmas merrier for Alabama. Uh Gary, I'm waiting...

It would be particularly bad for the Alabama economy. According to a report by The Heritage Foundation, if Congress fails to extend the Bush tax cuts, Alabama would lose an average of 9,873 jobs per year, peaking at almost 12,500 jobs by 2016. The average household income in Alabama would go down by $3,498 per year and overall, individual income taxes would go up by $5.3 billion, according to The Heritage Foundation report.

One of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century has been the decline of liberalism and the ascendancy of conservatism. Amen and Amen.

While there are many opinions for the cause of this phenomenon the one that is the most fraudulent is that America is a conservative nation. This false premise has been propagated by those who want to maintain some fictitious sense of America’s past and a desire to reverse the progress we have achieved. Over the course of the last 50 years they have steadily and persistently chipped away at those ideas which defined liberalism (shared sacrifice, equality, and shared responsibility) and replaced them with greed, selfishness, and special interests while simultaneously demonizing liberalism as socialism.

What's on your reading list?

Redeyes Wake the F%^k Up Rant

Democrats need to wake up and smell the @#$ coffee. I've been screaming this at the top of my lungs for years, but instead of listening to me I was was banished from the front pages of a blog that is supposed to connect progressive voices. We will never get our message out as long as those of us who stand up for the middle and lower class; we who stand up for the teachers and education; we who stand up for good paying jobs and unions; we who believe in the freedom of the individual to choose - be it religion or no religion or otherwise; are marginalized and minimized by the status quo. We will never get our message out until we have an effective counter to the right wing noise machine aka talk radio.

Of course it would help if ALL of us were on the same page and we didn't have the reform wing, the anti choice wing, the conservative wing, the blue dog wing, the anti teachers and education wing, the anti labor wing, the anti affirmative action wing etc. A bird only has two wings and they must work together in order for the bird to fly.

In the interest of time I am going to re post an original Redeye WTF Rant in my own voice when I tried to sound the alarm in 2009.

W=Where, Why, Who, When or What.

T=The

F=The F word,

WTF is the democratic party?

WTF have we lost 2 special elections in a row?

WTF did we even have to have 2 special elections in the first place?

WTF was the GOTV?

WTF were the town hall meetings and rallies?

WTF were the television, radio newspapers ads?

WTF was the freaking organization?

WTF where Artur Davis and Ron Sparks?

WTF is in charge?

I tired to calm down, really I did, but I'm pi$$ed. Before I go any further let me be perfectly clear, this rant is not directed at anyone specifically, it is directed to everyone collectively and rhetorically.

One thing I'll give the republicans credit for. They always bring their A game and they play to win. If they weren't anti minority, anti choice, anti gay rights, anti labor etc. they would be my kind of party. They know how to play to PR/spin game. They know how to excite their base. They know how to frame the issues so they look like the good guys instead of the bad guys they really are. Of course it doesn't hurt they have the media and the Injustice system as enablers.

WTF is wrong with the democratic party? It's as if they don't want to win. It's as if they are afraid to stand up and fight for what is right (no pun). Who/WhatTF are they afraid of?

Rest of Rant (be sure and read the comments)

The Civil War within the Alabama Democratic Party

According to the progressive wing of the Alabama Democratic Party Dr. Joe Reed is the last person to lead the ADP for the following reasons;

1. It would be a disaster.

2. Joe Reed went to court to have his name put back on a building at Alabama State University, where he served on the board of Trustees.

3. Reed as De facto party chair has been a disaster. This is a case where past performance does guarantee future results...

4. Reed is not only a disaster, he's a disgrace and an embarrassment to representation of who we are and what we represent. He DOES NOT represent what we stand for on any level.

5. It's time for a fresh face, like Justice Mark Kennedy.

6. Joe Reed is part of the old guard who just can't let go. He has some power in Montgomery but he certainly can't represent the broad base. He is too racist and dictatorial. Note; there is no evidence of Reed being too racist.

7. Joe Reed spent time doing George Wallace's dirty work, telling black leaders this is not the time to move, wait before he ultimately saw the light and got himself in front of the movement that he had tried to thwart. Note Justice Mark Kennedy is married to Peggy Wallace, daughter of George Wallace.

8. Joe Reed is the epitome of out-of-touch. He epitomizes the racial bias that some older Southern blacks harbor towards Southern white, especially white progressives (Patricia Todd). He has expressed his bias against anyone who doesn't stand to further his bias agenda. Reed will generate a false sense of "not one of us" towards a black politico that actually attempts to push for a pluralistic platform. Let's not forget his homophobia, see Patricia Todd situation for proof. See the Patrica Todd situation here.

9. We need a clean break from the past. We need someone who can bridge the gap between the Davis folks and the Sparks/Reed folks.

The Democratic Wing of the Alabama Democratic Party believe Joe Reed is just what the Doctor (as in Howard Dean) ordered at this critical juncture for the following reasons;

1. Dr.  Reed as chair would chase all the pseudo dims out of the party. It' no way they are going to be lead by a black man like Joe Reed. Artur Davis yes, Reed no.

2. Dr. Reed would not pander to the right at the expense of the traditional democratic base i.e. women, minorities, LBGT, labor, public school teachers and support personnel.

3. Dr. Reed has a history of fighting for fairness and black representation.

4. Dr. Reed is not afraid of the right-wing bullies.

5. Dr. Reed is not republican lite and will not pander to the right at the expense of the traditional base and traditional democratic values.

6. Dr. Reed is also the perfect person to raise money -- and diversify sources of support for the party. There are untapped resources within the ADP. Dr. Reed has the ability to recruit and welcome disenfranchised/marginalized Democrats into the party.

7. Dr. Reed is more than capable of managing the party effectively --making sure papers are filed on time, candidates are vetted, election results certified, etc. AND make sure the ADP doesn't let the AL GOP get away with anything whatsoever outside the rules. In other words, be ready to pound the table, call BS and file suit if anybody tries any election-related funny business.

Note the difference in the two lists, the anti-Reed sides reasons are all personal and emotional, whereas the pro-Reed side states separate the political from the personal and states just the facts.

I don't know if there is a bridge between the progressive wing and the democratic wing of the democratic party. The ideological gaps are just too wide and run too deep. So maybe the Alabama Democratic Party is a thing of the past and we need to make a new plan. Maybe we should let the progressive wing have the ADP and the democratic wing of the democratic party should all switch to the republican party.

A modest proposal: Every voter in Alabama should register as a Republican.

Anyone who fails to do so effectively forfeits his vote, just as Republicans forfeited their votes when Democrats, if you could call them that, were in the same position Republicans enjoy today.

Alabama is and never was a "one-party" state; it was a no-party state in which the party primary allowed all factions to do battle.

In years past Alabama produced a fair number of progressives: Hugo Black, Jim Folsom, Lister Hill, Carl Elliott, to name a few.

It might be possible to do this once more if everyone registered as Republican. At the least this would exerting a moderating influence on any serious candidate.

Registering as a Republican would not prevent any voter from voting Democratic in presidential election -- just as "Democrats" of old voted for Eisenhower, Goldwater, Nixon, Reagan, etc.

I'm perfectly serious about this: If I were still living in Alabama, I would be a card-carrying registered Republican.

If you can't beat em, join em?

Real Democrats get it. Now run tell THAT Homegirl!

Daily Kos blogger brooklynbadboy makes a compelling case for why real democrats can't wait any longer. It's time to rebuild the democratic party.

Times are tough. The working people of this country are not just losing their jobs, they are losing their homes and in some cases, their entire way of life. Their dignity. Their respect. Men can't earn a decent living so that they can raise their heads with pride around their children.

Women can't get a break from their increasing burdens. Children are piling up their disappointments. Our great men of commerce are weak and corrupt. Our defenders are weathered by war, deployed far from home. The political institutions that are tasked with governing are broken. The men who lead them are inadequate to the challenges before them. It is very difficult to look at the state of our union and find it strong. We the people have got to do something about it and it has to start now.

Progressives just don't get it.

Yes, this was a Republican wave year, but Alabama Democrats have more problems than just the painful economy and low approval ratings for Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. We had no coherent message and no recent record of supporting policies that help people.

WTF do you mean we had no coherent message and no recent record of supporting policies that help people? WTF is WE? Health care reform helps the 46 million Americans without access to health care. But DINO Artur Davis couldn't support that. Anti Hate Crimes legislation help protect our gay and lesbian sisters and brothers from harm. But DINO Artur Davis couldn't support that either. So WE democrats had a record, it was just drowned out by the DINO's/progressives/blue dogs/moderates/independents/conservatives/dixiecrats that have infiltrated the democratic party and is spreading like a cancer.

Alabama democrats, strike that, REAL Alabama Democrats aren't in denial about why Alabama Democrats took such a whipping on Nov. 2. It was the stoopid racism which was enabled and appeased by the progressive/conservadem wing of the Democratic party. Democrats took such a whipping because Alabama Democratic Party elite decided to fight with a right leaning blog and suppress real democratic voices.

'Comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable' (0.00 / 0)
I believe Redeye is the heart and soul of this little corner of the universe. I have little to add to the Redeye viewpoint and comments because they are consistent with my world view.

No one says it better than Redeye. The links back it up!

Attacking the messenger is so creepily Republican.

Redeye comforts me!

Does Redeye disturb you?

Democrats took such a whipping because Y-O-U and Y-O-U-R-S gave them the switch.

Don't blame REAL Democrats. WE did our part. We aren't the ones who are "out of touch".

We held our nose and did what the republicans did and voted a straight ticket. If the conservadems had done joined with us, instead of being against us, democrats wouldn't have taken a bloodbath. But noooo, conservadems just had to whup State Senator Hank Sanders for his mad as hell robo call to DEMOCRATIC voters and put his "abrasive wife" in her place. That will learn them about dealing the race cared in every hand. Yessum. *Snark*

Why we can't wait to kick the infiltrators out of the big tent (emphasis mine);

We do not have time to wait for politicians to learn how to do the job effectively. They may never learn. We do not have time to wait 10, 20 or 30 more years while our people and planet fall into the abyss. We cannot confine ourselves to years and years of seemingly pointless phone calls and emails. Our people are dying. Our people, the Democrats, the people who didn't show up for this election, are suffering. We have to link up, walk into that meeting and start getting our own people in positions of authority. We need power in order to fight back. We've got to seize control of this party and change the rules so that it cannot be taken away ever again. It can be done, it should be done, and it will be done if we have the stomach for it.

Yep WE (real democrats) got a mugging, an alley butt-whipping, but most of it was due to fact the majority of white democrats would rather lose than stand with the democratic wing of the democratic party, but also I admit part of it was the fault of the Alabama Democratic Party leadership (or lack there of), they had a plan, pander to the right at the expense of the base. That really sent a message to real democrats how out of touch they were with real democrats. You know the democrats who are not worried about me and mine, but who are concerned about the least and the left out. Those who don't have access to a quality public education. Those who don't have access to quality health care. Those who can't afford to buy groceries. Those who aren't informed. Those who are marginalized and minimized. Those that understand that by the grace of God goes I.

Real Democrats aka The Professional Left get it loud and clear. We can't wait any longer. It's time to rebuild the democratic party, but first we have to kick the Posers out of the big tent before they burn it down.

White privilege and power have been setting the Democratic agenda and electoral strategy for far too long in this state. They drank their own Kool-Aid in the run-up to this election. It poisoned their thinking as it has poisoned our party. They chose to rely on manipulation, race baiting, short-sighted election year gimmicks and smearing real liberals and democrats in favor the rightwing/dixiecrats/moderates/conservatives and enabling and appeasing the right wing instead of using their time in power to promote responsible public policies. Although many of those voted down last night had little to do with this fiasco, the people at the top of the Democratic party got the result they richly deserved. Unfortunately it's the little people at the bottom who will suffer the consequences. You know, the people without jobs, homes, access to quality affordable health care. Poor single mothers and their children. Elderly citizens who have to decide between buying food or buying medicine. You know, the least of these.

You helped light the match that essentially burned our party to the ground yesterday. How do we rebuild the Alabama Democratic Party now you ask?

Clean house from top to bottom. Get rid of the posers and the infiltrators. You're either with the democratic party or you're against the democratic party, that includes black/brown folks, women, our LBGT sisters and brothers, labor and public educators. You're either for all parts of the democratic agenda or you're for none of it. We elect leaders who don't think black voters are stoopid and who try and take advantage of them. We elect leaders who are not afraid to stand up to the right wing bully's. We elect leaders who don't take a blog, I mean butter knife to a gun fight. We elect leaders who will bring us together not divide us. That's how we get OUR party back on track Missy.

Now, run and tell THAT Homegirl!

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired of fickle demoCats

I can understand the gop having their underwear in a wad over DEMOCRATIC Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders robo calls to DEMOCRATIC voters, but why do those who call themselves progressive/democrats have a problem with this?

Hello this is Hank Sanders, Alabama state Senator, and I’m still mad as hell. I say hell no! I ain’t going back to the cotton fields of Jim Crow days. I’m going forward with Ron Sparks, Jim Folsom and others who would do right by all of us. I hope you are mad as hell and will not go back, and you have the power to choose. I will stand until hell freezes over for Ron Sparks for Governor and Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor on November the 2nd.

Paid for by Alabama New South.

I'll tell you what I think the problem is, feel free to disagree with me. The democratic party has been infiltrated by conservatives masquerading as progressives which resulted in an internal war between hard core liberals and hard core conservatives illustrated by the following statement:

The Democratic dream coalition this year is supposed to be African-American voters (often termed simply "Obama voters" which ignores the fact that lots of white Alabamians also voted for Obama) and rural white voters.

This statement is totally false. The majority of white Alabamians, democratic and republican, and the majority of rural white voters voted for McCain/Palin in 08. President Obama got 10% of the white vote in Alabama.

Yes, there are two different campaigns being run inside the same party.

Yep. The strategy this year (4.00 / 2)
for white Democrats running in "conservative" rural districts is to campaign as if rural white Alabamians have one foot dragging off the trailer steps and one arm in a KKK robe.

So how does Hank Sanders' robocall fit with the overall strategy? It seems insane to run two totally different campaigns inside the same party and think that neither side is going to catch on.

A huge and wonderful exception to this effort is the campaign being run by Greg Varner in SD-13.

Why the ADP isn't following his strategy statewide is beyond me. This lowest common denominator campaign is depressing as hell and an embarrassment to the state.

Why is the ADP following this strategy statewide you ask? Because the democratic party is divided that's why. The ADP party wants and needs the African American vote but they don't want the African American voters.

I have complicated reasons for wanting to call myself a Democrat. Those reasons are firm and cannot be swayed, even from within. But for all of those other moderates out there, doesn't this come across as just berating and ignorant type of campaigning? It sounds like something I would hear from a wannabe civil rights activist who has Venerable Reverend preceding their name. The black vote is very important. More important than the vote, is actually serving the black people of Alabama with meaningful representation. Does Hank Sanders represent anyone other than a small segment of the uninformed race voting blacks? This embarrass me to have some association with it. I know you guys get tired of me harping on the same old point, but if Democrats want to keep swapping power every four to eight years, then let Hank Sanders types keep preaching. I know that there will always be a extreme element of both parties. But those elements only account for very small percentages of the parties as a whole. 10% representation is not what America needs. I am so concerned that the polarization will continue due to foolish actions such as the Hank Sanders campaigning phone message above. Mad as Hell, Hell no, No way in Hell, Hell freeze over! I think Hank Sanders is caught up on words that begin with H and end with ell.

This commenter has it twisted. The Alabama African American vote was slightly more than 26% in 2008, not 10%. As a matter of fact, the 10% is the number of white voters for Obama, so I will agree with the commenter 10% representation is not what Alabama or America needs, so candidates like Artur Davis, Bobby Bright and Butch Taylor need to stop pandering to them.

AL State Senator Hank Sanders is not the problem, nor is the substance of his robo call.

There is a real dilemma in communicating with masses of people. If we speak in a way that is acceptable to everyone, we move few. If we speak in a way that effectively moves many, we offend some others. I have worked for years to effectively communicate so I move many without offending many. I don’t always succeed.

Well, I cut a second robo ad. I did not back away from the word “hell.” I said, “I will stand until hell freezes over!” I said “Hell no, I will not go back!” One of the first responses to the ad came from a woman in Mobile. She said that she had not intended to vote, but after my robo call, she not only was going to vote, but was urging others to vote. She said that she was “also mad as hell.” Our perceptions, judgments, and responses are so different.

So called super minority/partisan districts aren't the problem either. They are the solution to the problem.

Prior to the Civil War, African Americans were almost totally disenfranchised throughout the states. Latino voters faced similar barriers to voting in Texas and other parts of the Southwest., as did Native American and Asian American voters in the West. Even after enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, in 1870, which gave all men, regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude the right to vote, many states continued to use various methods to prevent people of color from voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, the disenfranchisement of former inmates, intimidation, threats, and even violence. Also, until 1965, federal laws did not challenge the authority of states and localities to establish and administer their own voting requirements.

I take issue with the following comment;

We have an amazing diversity of views for a site called "Left in Alabama." I think that's healthy and makes the site a better, more informative resource. The echo chamber effect just leads to group think and is the ticket to irrelevance. Pretty much all of us here agree 90% of the time on the basics. We diverge often on the strategies and tactics needed to achieve our goals, but that's how policies get negotiated in the real world. Why not on a blog?

In case you haven't noticed there is NO diversity in your font page viewpoint. Like the NPR/Juan Williams firing my front page privileges were rescinded because the content of my comments didn't conform to the group think mentality.

But losing his job for saying the sight of Muslims on a plane makes him a little nervous is wrong. It makes me wonder just how much any commentator, including myself, will have to go to water down his or her comments just to avoid offending some one's sensitivities.

As long as the ADP elite, progressives/democrats pander to right and take the of the base (African American voters)for granted there will be conflict within the democratic party. As long as African Americans stay in their place they are fine, but if they dare speak up and speak out they sound a nutty as the worst elements of the GOP or are told to start their own blog. As I said earlier, you can't have the African American VOTES without the African American VOTERS. You are either for the democratic party, or you are against the democratic party, a democratic party that fights for equal rights, civil rights, women's rights and human rights for ALL including African Americans.

If the cries of Montgomery politicians under indictment don’t generate sympathy, certainly the lamentation of unemployed workers in the Black Belt does. One effect of the bribe-induced Riley-Canary war on bingo in Alabama is the closure of bingo operations in Greene, Macon and Houston Counties, that employed literally thousands of workers, and brought millions of dollars annually to local government treasuries. We all wish that overwhelmingly black Greene and Macon Counties had bulldozers clearing land for new automotive and electronics plants, or for high-powered biology labs or computer engineering firms, but that’s the progress of the next generation. Right now, those counties are absolutely dependent on the entertainment and gaming business for their economic survival, and Obama’s what-me-worry attitude about Canary has placed that survival in jeopardy. Even in the white-majority Wiregrass, it’s probably safe to assume that Country Crossing employed a fair number of African-Americans in its service sector jobs. Had Bob Riley needed to worry about a U.S. Attorney with integrity in Montgomery, he would likely not have earned his Mississippi Choctaw bribes by shutting down the bingo halls, and the Legislature would probably have put a bingo referendum on this November’s ballot. As it is, there is no way to know when, or if, these businesses will reopen. At some point, even the President’s biggest supporters have to ask if he’s paying attention.

At some point I have to ask if the ADP is paying attention? It may make you feel better to call yourself a progressive because you don't want to be associated with liberals/democrats, but you're either with ALL of the democratic party of NONE of the democratic party.

Redeye Rant Over and Out.